Amtrak

Hiawatha logo from the Milwaukee Road days.

Under Amtrak, which assumed
control of most intercity passenger rail service in the United States on
May 1, 1971, the Hiawatha name survived in two forms. The
first was a Chicago-Milwaukee-Minneapolis service, known simply as
the Hiawatha. This would be renamed the Twin
Cities Hiawatha, then extended to Seattle and renamed the
North Coast Hiawatha. This
service ended in 1979.[4]

The second was a Chicago–Milwaukee corridor known as the
Hiawatha Service (as opposed to Hiawatha).
Although Amtrak had retained Chicago–Milwaukee service during the
transition, it did not name these trains until October 29, 1972. At
this time both Hiawatha and Hiawatha Service
could be found on the same timetable. On June 15, 1976, Amtrak
introduced Turboliners
to the route and the name Hiawatha Service left the
timetable, not to return until 1989. The Chicago–Milwaukee trains
were known simply as "Turboliners" (as were comparable
trains on the Chicago-Detroit and Chicago–St. Louis corridors)
until October 26, 1980, when Amtrak introduced individual names for
each of the trains. This practice ended on October 29, 1989, when
the name Hiawatha Service returned as an umbrella term for
all Chicago–Milwaukee service.[5]

It is proposed that the Hiawatha Service, along with
the Empire
Builder would shift one stop north to North
Glenview in Glenview, Illinois. This move would eliminate lengthy
stops which block traffic on Glenview Road. This move would involve
reconstruction of the North Glenview station to handle the
additional traffic, and depends on commitments from Glenview, the
Illinois General Assembly and
Metra.[6]

Corridor
names

This table shows the names given to trains which operated over
the Chicago-Milwaukee corridor under Amtrak. It excludes
long-distance trains such as the Empire Builder and North
Coast Hiawatha whose local stopping patterns were
restricted. The Abraham Lincoln and Prairie State
were Chicago-St. Louis services which Amtrak extended through
Chicago to the north in the early 1970s.

On July 17, 2009, the State of Wisconsin announced it will
purchase two new train sets from Spanish manufacturer Talgo. Talgo will build a
manufacturing plant in Wisconsin to construct the trainsets for the
Hiawatha Service, and the company hopes the plant will
also build trains for future high-speed lines in the region.

Air
connection

In 2005, another station opened
on the line, the Milwaukee Airport
Railroad Station at General Mitchell
International Airport. The expansion was intended to facilitate
transfer to and from the airport, as well (shuttles run between the
station and the main terminal), giving residents on the south side
of Milwaukee easier access to the service, along with an
alternative to the central station in downtown, which is now fully
accessible owing to the completion of the Marquette Interchange.
The station was primarily funded and is maintained by the Wisconsin Department
of Transportation.